Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-08-25
INSECT MECHANICS
Wisdom That Prompts the Hornet to Per-
form Peculiar Duties.

II nave Decn Watching a yellow nor
net building a nest near my kitchen
ioor for several days" observed gem
tleMan to another, ''and the longer I
watch it the more puzzled 1 am to know
whether it is guided in its work by
knowledge and reason or by instinct
1t does not werk like machine, bat
with ali the sagacity of reasoning be-
ing"
81 have watched them, too" replied
the other; '"but-I could never see any
signs of reasoning powers. They
seemed to be doing something that they
couldn't help"
ssThis is not the case with this hor-
net, observed the first gentleman. at
came 'sne day when was sitting in the
Tdoor;and made a careful survey of the
surroundings, and seemed TO be partic-
nlar about getting in a place where it
would be well protected from wind and
rail-. 1t finally selected'a place under
the string rail to which the fence boards
are nailed After making up its mind
ut cleaned off spot about as big as an
sapple seed Then it flew away, but it
was not long Nntil itireturned with
lump of black-looking stuff about tRe
. size of a large bird-shOt in its arms. 1t
then began spreading this over the bare
spot on tine rail with its bill. The
work was done as carefully as plas-
terer would have done it,
''May Ige 1T had a Trowel and facing
board concealed about its person" OBJ
served the other, ijestIngly.
eff 1t mad I'didn't see 'em," replied
the other, ':but i watched it when it
returned with another load of papier-
mache- 1T pinched small bits off the
little bail held inifts arms and seemed
to chew 1T before sticking it on to the
otheC- while itwas gone for another
load U examined the work and found
that Ii constructed small stem. nst
much :Shicker than a coarse sewing
thread, which was attached to the
foundation by broad, daring base.
The neNtroad'was. built onto the stem,
and fsred out even more than the base.
In this it bored four little holes, such
as would be made by the point of
leadpencil;in a soft piece of putty. 1t
then went tOrwork and polished up the
stem, which is about a quarter of an
. inch long, until it looked as if Il had
beenwaxed." 81
-''How long did it take this mechan-
icalihornet to do this?" interrupted the
listener.
''Tbess than an hour" replied the
other. Il had not finished nay after
supper teddy when it knocked off for
the night. 1t must have got TO work
early the next morning, for when l
weIit ent after breakfast l found that
thosefOur little indentures in the bulb
-On. thesend of that stem had grown into
cells IA quarter of an inch deep, and
THAT ~eup-shaped enclosure had been
commenced at the point where the
stem was attached to the foundation.
Thecells and the enclosure grew with
about equal rapidity, and were .as per-
feet pieces of art work as yOL could
wish to see.7'
Mot more perfect than the crystals
we find in quartz rock, or thousand
and one other places" suggested the
listener.
mo, mot more perfect" argued the
eother,' 4tbut here was the mechanic at
his woEk. He was collecting the ma
rterial and preparing it as intelligently
las a stueco worker would gather and
DDrepare his. In order to test the
-equanimity of the fussy little artisan
stuck % straw into one of the enclosures.
unrmediately on its'return it flew into
passion, ibuzzed aroand few seconds,
as if looking for the fellow who had
the hardihood and ill-manners to i'm
1trGlde upon its premises, and then went
ito work and cut the straw into little
Tbits and carried them away. 1t then
repaired the damage and went Ola with
!thework.''
~ have seen almost the same thing
going on when preparing crystals of
the salts ,cf copper sand lead" ne
marked the ether, with the aid of a
battery of moderate strength the pro
cess Of crystallization ean be seen dis
timely. Several times Il have inter
posed foreign matter between the par
ticles Of metal and the parts to which
thay Were tenEing, when. some unseen
hoTce'would, drive them away in order
TO allow the proper particles to take
q. their respective places. If the foreign
matter, such us a straw snr piece of
fhread, persisted in remaining, the
atoms of metal would form around it
and go ssn until the figure was COM
pleted.'
-Well,iry ittle-artisan next began a
second or.erter covering for his nest"
said the otker, land it is as perfect a
sphere as IF it had been modelled in a
lathe 1t is made of a coaxser and
heavier material than the cells and the
inner converting. 1t gets the material
from the boanls on the fence. bat that !
for the inside works IL gets from a dis
fanoa aSesA ySnViIaS III ~ &c., !
for 1T to make the roEnd trip.-Pjsls- /
LaI,.I